


Parent Teacher Meetings Just Got More Interesting

by JinDoriiiii



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, Purely Fluff, hyunjin and yerim are twins, pre school teacher jinsoul, single parent lip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-11-01 23:37:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20546636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinDoriiiii/pseuds/JinDoriiiii
Summary: Jungeun is tired, her babies are acting weird and won't tell her anything. An unexpected call from their teacher, however, changes their lives forever.





	1. Chapter 1

Jungeun had just gotten back from work a little after five, and Yeri, a high school student who picks the twins up from school every day and watches them until she gets home, told her that they were both acting strangely.

Apparently, they kept to themselves and walked home in silence before disappearing to their rooms for the rest of the afternoon

Jungeun had assured a concerned Yeri that she’d be able to find out was wrong and she left as Jungeun began to make dinner.

By the time they were halfway through the meal, she could see what Yeri had meant. Jungeun’s cooking could usually fix any problem either of her kids had, and yet Yerim simply pushed her food around on the plate, looking glum. Hyunjin was chewing her food slowly and kept avoiding her mother’s gaze. This was quite strange because usually Yerim would be jumping in her seat as while talking about how much new stuff she learned during dinner, and Hyunjin would be making animal noises that she thought were interesting and inhale her food in one go. Jungeun had just opened her mouth to ask them what was wrong when the phone rang.

She looked at the receiver and saw an unfamiliar number calling her, warily she picked up the call. “Hello?”

“Hello, may I speak to Miss Kim Jungeun?” said an unfamiliar woman’s voice on the other end.

“Speaking,” said Jungeun. “May I ask who’s calling?”

“Oh, uhm hi! I’m Jung Jinsol. Yerim and Hyunjin’s teacher. I meant to call earlier in the day, but I got tied up after school this afternoon.”

“That’s okay. I just got home an hour ago,” said Jungeun absently, but she was surprised. She had no idea why Ms. Jung could have for calling her in the middle of dinner.

She saw the teacher from afar most mornings when she dropped the twins off at school, but she never spoke to her; the twins gushed about her enough that if she hadn’t seen the teacher with her own two eyes, she wouldn’t have believed Jinsol was real.

“Oh, right. I forget most jobs don’t get out as early as mine does,” she said with a little laugh.

Jungeun gave a polite chuckle in response, but she was impatient to get the call over with so she could confront her kids and have them explain why they were acting so weird. “Anyway, uh, is everything all right?” A thought occurred to her. “Have they been causing trouble at school?”

She couldn’t picture it. Yerim was a literal ball of sunshine, the sweetest kid on the planet, and Hyunjin, though she’d inherited their father’s temper, was generally much more self-controlled than her ex-husband had ever been. They were always the sweetest kids at their daycare and she never got any complaints about their behavior.

Ms. Jung sighed. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m afraid Hyunjin got in a fight with another student during recess today.”

“ _ What?” _ Jungeun squawked. She whirled around to stare at the twins, who had both dropped their forks and were staring nervously back at their mom. “She would never—what happened?

“She told me it was because he had made Yerim cry, and Yerim  _ was  _ crying so that may have been true. Unfortunately, I can’t condone punching a fellow student in the face no matter what.”

“She  _ punched him  _ in the _ face? _ ” Hyunjin paled at her mother’s raised voice, and Yerim started gnawing on her fingernails.

“She did. Anyway, Ms. Kim, school policy dictates that I have to schedule a meeting with you and Hyunjin to discuss this. In fact, Yerim should probably be there as well since she seems to have been involved in the whole thing. I’m so sorry,” Ms. Jung added, and she did indeed sound very sorry.

“No, no, I understand,” said Jungeun, still not quite able to believe the news. “What day would be good for the meeting?”

They planned to meet after school the next day, and then Ms. Jung apologized again and hung up. Jungeun put the phone back and returned to her chair at the kitchen table. The twins kept quiet and were scared because they know their mommy was only quiet when she’s very angry.

“That was Ms. Jung on the phone,” she began as if they didn’t know perfectly well what the call was about. “Hyunjin, she told me you got in a fight at school today, and you punched another kid in the face.”

Hyunjin’s lower lip wobbled and she looked down at her feet. Yerim, ever the sensitive one of the pair, started to cry. “It wasn’t her fault, Mommy,” she sobbed. “She was just sticking up for me.”

Jungeun pulled her daughter onto her lap and hugged Yerim close until her tears subsided into soft hiccups, but she turned a stern gaze on Hyunjin. “Is it true, Hyunjin? Did you punch the boy? Please be honest with me, baby.”

“It’s true,” she mumbled, still looking down.

“Hyunjin, look at me.” Jungeun waited until her daughter’s anxious eyes met hers. “That was wrong of you. You can’t go around punching people every time they say something you don’t like.” How very hypocritical of her, she often wished that wasn’t the case, but Hyunjin didn’t need to know that.

“But Hajun was really mean to Yerim,” the little girl protested. “He made her  _ cry,  _ Mommy.”

“If someone does something mean, punching that person won’t make things any better,” said Jungeun. “You have to be the bigger person, and sometimes that means just walking away instead of trying to get even.” Then she looked at Yerim, figuring she’d better find out as many details of the story as possible before their meeting with Ms. Jung the next day. “Yerim, what did Hajun say to you?”

Yerim hid her face in Jungeun’s shirt and didn’t answer for a long time. When she finally did speak, her voice was muffled. “He said- he said that I was too loud and annoying, that nobody actually likes me and that my only friend is Hyunjin. He also said that Daddy left because nobody wanted me and Hyunjin.”

“He said  _ WHAT? _ ”

“See,” Hyunjin said, but she didn’t sound triumphant. Instead, she looked like she was about to cry, and Yerim’s eyes were welling up again. Jungeun was going to kill this Hajun kid.

She pulled Hyunjin onto her lap and hugged both of them so tight that they started protesting. “You listen to me,” she said. “You are not annoying, baby. I know you have lots of friends, don’t listen to a boy that probably picks his nose. Your dad didn‘t leave because of you, he left because he wasn’t ready to be a father. We’re better off without him, believe me. If you’re still having trouble with this Hajun kid, you go straight to me. Okay?”

They sniffled and nodded, and Jungeun kissed the tops of their heads. Then she remembered the meeting. “I’ll be picking you up from school tomorrow, and all three of us have to talk to Ms. Jung about what happened. Then after that, we’ll go out for ice cream.”

The logical part of Jungeun’s brain that tended to speak in Haseul’s voice told her it wasn’t a good idea to reward her kid with ice cream after she’d punched her classmate, but as she saw her precious babies start to cheer up, Jungeun resolved to let them get two scoops each.


	2. Chapter 2

Within an hour of arriving at the office the next day, Jungeun had told Haseul the whole story. They both were partners at a law firm—Jungeun because she’d needed a stable job when she became a single mom trying to raise twins, and Haseul because for some reason she seemed to actually like making money.

“I can’t say I agree with your decision about ice cream,” Haseul said rather disapprovingly, sounding like the logical part of Jungeun’s brain. “On the other hand, I can’t exactly blame you for it, either. Thet’s such an awful thing for them to hear and from a classmate! His parents should be ashamed.” 

“I know,” said Jungeun. “I swear if I ever get my hands on that little twerp…”

Jungeun was left three hours early so she could make it to the twins’ school in time for the meeting with Ms. Jung. At two o’clock, she bid Haseul goodbye and jogged out to her car.

Jungeun arrived at the twins’ school just as the bell rang, and she quickly went inside and headed towards their classroom. There were a few kids still filing out when she arrived, so she waited until they were out of the doorway before going inside.

She spotted Yerim and Hyunjin immediately; they were sitting at one of the tables together, looking nervous, though they perked up slightly when she smiled encouragingly at them. “You must be Ms. Kim,” someone said.

Jungeun turned and her jaw nearly dropped as she saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She had long, brown blonde hair and warm brown eyes. Jungeun wondered if she was some kind of angel, then realized the teacher was waiting for her to speak. “Um, yeah,” she coughed, sticking out her hand for Jinsol to shake. “Jungeun’s fine.”

The pretty blonde took her hand and smiled at her; Jungeun thought she was going to pass out. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, Jungeun. Thank you for making time for this.” 

“Of course. Nice to meet you, too, Ms. Jung.”

“Please, call me Jinsol.”

“Jinsol,” Jungeun repeated. She was still feeling extremely caught off guard. She saw Ms. Jung—Jinsol—nearly every morning for the past three months, and while she distantly remembered that the teacher was beautiful, she never realized exactly _how_ beautiful. 

Jinsol smiled again and gestured at the table where Yerim and Hyunjin were sitting. Jungeun awkwardly attempted to fold herself into one of the child-sized chairs, her knees sticking high into the air. Jinsol took the remaining chair, somehow managing to look graceful while doing so. 

“I’m guessing we all know why we’re here,” Jinsol said gravely. She seemed to be mostly addressing the twins, but Jungeun found herself nodding along with them as if she was a small child in trouble. Jinsol continued, “Hyunjin, can you tell us what happened? Don’t leave anything out.” 

After a moment, Hyunjin began to speak, dutifully reciting the tale. Jungeun clenched her fists when she said what the boy told Yerim, and she saw Jinsol’s eyes widen. “Thank you,” she said when Hyunjin had finished. “Yerim, is there anything you’d like to add?” 

Yerim shook her head, looking miserable. Jungeun reached over to give Yerim a comforting squeeze. 

Jinsol turned her gaze back to Hyunjin. “What Hajun said to Yerim was very disrespectful and unkind, and I will be speaking to him about it. However, that doesn’t make what you did okay, Hyunjin. I understand that you just wanted to stick up for your sister, but it’s not nice to hurt people no matter how much they hurt you first.” 

Hyunjin nodded, looking ashamed. “Mommy said you have to be the bigger person and walk away,” she offered in a small voice. 

“Your mommy is a very smart person,” Jinsol replied, bestowing that beautiful smile on Jungeun once again. “Hyunjin, I want you to write an apology letter to Hajun and give it to him tomorrow.” 

Hyunjin sighed and looked at Jungeun, silently begging her to get her out of it, but she just nodded at her and she returned her gaze to Jinsol, looking defeated. “Okay.” 

“Hajun will be writing an apology to Yerim once I talk to him about this,” added Jinsol, which seemed to cheer Hyunjin up a little. “Now, would you two be okay waiting out in the hall for just a moment so I can talk to your mommy?” 

The twins got up and went outside, leaving Jinsol alone at the table with Jungeun, who felt even more ridiculous sitting in the tiny chair now that the kids were gone. 

“I had no idea that’s what Hajun said to them,” Jinsol said in a low voice once Yerim and Hyunjin were out of the room. “They wouldn’t tell me yesterday. I shouldn’t be saying this, and don’t tell them I did, but…I can’t blame Hyunjin for reacting the way she did.” 

The corners of Jungeun’s mouth turned up slightly. She can hear Captain Holt in the back of her head, shouting _ VINDICANTIOOOONNNNN. _

“Thanks for saying that, Ms.—Jinsol. They were both upset about it.” 

Jinsol nodded understandingly. She hesitated for a minute, then began tentatively, “Their father—” 

“He left before the twins were even born,” Jungeun said shortly. 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” 

She shrugged. “Don't be. We’re better off without him, all three of us.” 

She nodded again, then gave Jungeun a small smile. “This incident aside, they are great kids. You’ve done a wonderful job with them.” 

Jungeun returned her smile. “Thanks. That means a lot.” After a moment’s pause, she added, “They both adore you, you know. They’re always talking about how smart you are, and how nice, and how much fun your lessons are. They’ve talked you up so much that I was a little nervous about finally meeting you in person.” 

Jinsol laughed, and Jungeun could’ve sworn she was blushing. “I hope I lived up to your expectations.” 

Trying not to panic, Jungeun smiled and said, “You exceeded them, actually.” 

Jinsol was definitely blushing now, and so was she, and they sat there blushing and smiling at each other until Jungeun came to her senses, and said she’d go since Yerim and Hyunjin were still waiting outside. 

Jungeun tried to stand up but she was stuck on the chair. _ God, this is so embarrassing. _Jinsol giggled and helped pry the chair off Jungeun. “I would’ve given you a different chair but sadly these are all we have,” Jinsol said with a soft smile. 

Embarrassing moment aside, Jinsol thanked her again for her time and wished her a good afternoon, and a moment later she was out in the hall. 

“What did she want to talk to you about?” asked Yerim curiously.

“We were just chatting,” Jungeun responded. “Nothing exciting. Now, who’s ready for ice cream?”

The twins cheered and practically dragged her out to the car, but she couldn’t help but cast a final backward glance towards Jinsol’s classroom before they disappeared around the corner. 

* * *

Jinsol let out a breath as soon as the door had closed behind Jungeun. She dropped her head into her hands and cursed herself for acting like such an idiot. She hadn’t been prepared for the encounter—she vaguely recognized Jungeun, having seen her drop off Yerim and Hyunjin in the mornings, and had always privately found her rather attractive, but seeing her up close and talking to her …well, it was a different matter entirely.

She shook her head to clear it and heaved a sigh. _ You exceeded them. _ Had she been flirting with her? No, she was just being nice…but she had definitely turned red after she’d said it. 

_ Get it together, Jinsol, _ she told herself sternly. _ You’re a grown woman, not a thirteen-year-old with a crush. _

She shouldn’t be thinking this sort of thing, anyway. Dating a parent of two of her students would be highly unprofessional, and Jinsol was nothing if not professional. Not that she’d been having any thoughts of dating Jungeun, of course. She probably wasn’t available, anyway; just because she was no longer with the twins’ father didn’t mean there wasn’t someone else in his life. 

Scolding herself for being so ridiculous, Jinsol stood up and began cleaning up the classroom to distract herself. Still, in the back of her mind, she found herself almost wishing Yerim or Hyunjin would cause more trouble so she’d have an excuse to see Jungeun again.


	3. Chapter 3

“I almost wish Yerim or Hyunjin would cause more trouble so I’d have an excuse to see Jinsol again,” Jungeun told Haseul the next day, having filled her in on the twins’ disciplinary meeting adventures.

“Don’t be stupid, Jungeun,” Haseul chided. “She seems to have been remarkably understanding about the whole situation, but I doubt that would hold a second time.”

“You’re right,” sighed Jungeun. “Okay, let me ask you a question—a hypothetical one, since Jinsol’s probably not even single, because, seriously, how could she be? But just hypothetically, would it be morally wrong to date your kids’ teacher?”

Haseul considered the question. “Hypothetically, it might upset your kids, and it might make their classmates tease them, and it might make the other parents accuse the teacher of showing favoritism to your kids over theirs, and it might negatively impact your kids’ education if the relationship were to go south. Other than that, though, it wouldn’t be morally wrong at all.”

Jungeun glared at her. “Thanks a lot.”

"I’m just being realistic, which is something you should try to do more often.” She gave a pointed glance at the papers on Jungeun’s desk which had remained untouched for the past half hour.

"You’re no fun,” Jungeun whined. “I just came over here for some advice, and now you’re  _ attacking  _ me.”

“Better to be attacked than fired, which you would be if anyone ever bothered to come in here and make sure we were being productive.”

“But they never bother, because they know  _ you’ll  _ keep us both on task.” Jungeun heaved another dramatic sigh and pushed off Haseul’s desk to propel her swivel chair back over to her desk, knocking some of Haseul’s papers askew in the process and causing the latter to scowl at her.

The sounds of typing filled the otherwise silent room for several minutes until Haseul said, “It’s almost December.”

Jungeun’s fingers paused above her keyboard. “And?”

“Aren’t parent-teacher conferences always in December?”

Sometimes Jungeun thought Haseul had a better handle on her life than she did. “Oh right, I completely forgot. Wait, that means—”

“You’ll get to see Jinsol again soon after all,” Haseul finished. “Just the two of you, alone in the classroom…”

“Wow, dirty mind much? I wouldn’t have expected that of you.”

“What? Oh, that’s not what I meant—”

“I can’t believe I forgot conferences were coming up,” Jungeun said again, interrupting Haseul’s protests. “Thank you, Haseul.” And she returned to her casefile with renewed vigor.

* * *

Every day for the next several weeks, Jungeun made a point of smiling at Jinsol when she dropped the twins off at school, and she was pleased to note that Jinsol smiled back every time.

Sometimes if she was feeling daring, she’d approach her and make conversation for about thirty seconds before having to dash off to work.

Things were going very well, in her opinion, though Haseul always laughed at her when she bounded into the office announcing that not only had she talked to Jinsol, but she’d wished her a good day before she left.

“If I knew ‘have a nice day’ was such a grand romantic gesture I would’ve asked for your hand in marriage a long time ago since you’ve said it to me nearly every single day for the past five years.”

Jungeun sniffed. “This is serious,” she said as Haseul continued to snicker. “I can’t believe you’re trivializing my love life like this.”

“Oh, is that what you call it? I call it stalking your children’s pre-school teacher.”

“I don’t know why I even tell you anything.”

Hyunjin’s apology letter had gone over well, as had Hajun’s, so the whole ordeal had been put behind them (but Jungeun still held a grudge against “that little punk Hajun” even though her kids seemed to have let bygones be bygones). In what felt like no time at all, it was the second week of December, which meant only one thing: parent-teacher conferences.

The elementary, middle, and high schools were all closed for the day, so Yeri was available to babysit while Jungeun was at her conference in the morning and work in the afternoon. Yerim and Hyunjin had been looking forward to it all week; they were excited to have the day off and to get to spend even more time with Yeri than usual. Jungeun had been equally eager, though for rather different reasons.

Friday morning, Jungeun drove over to the school in high spirits, though she was also nervous, a combination of the thought of seeing Jinsol one-on-one again and the worry that she’d say the twins were horrible students, even though she knew the chances of that were slim to none.

She parked the car and gave her reflection one last check in the mirror. Taking a deep breath, Jungeun got out of the car and walked once again in the direction of Jinsol Jung’s classroom.

The door was ajar when she arrived, but she knocked lightly anyway, and Jinsol’s voice came floating out, inviting her in. “Hi,” said Jungeun, smiling in greeting.

“Hello.” Jinsol returned her smile, as breathtakingly beautiful as ever. “It’s nice to see you again, Jungeun. Please, have a seat.”

To Jungeun’s relief, there was an actual adult-sized chair set up on the other side of Jinsol’s desk, and she sat down as she settled herself in the chair across from her. They briefly made small talk before Jinsol said, “I just want to start by saying what wonderful children Yerim and Hyunjin are. They’re a pleasure to have in class.”

Jungeun swore she was going to start a list someday of all the teachers who told her that. “Thank you. I’m glad to hear it.”

“Hyunjin’s classmates all look up to her,” continued Jinsol. “She’s a real leader. And Yerim is so kind and friendly. She always makes sure to include everyone when they’re playing at recess. And just the other day, Yerim's friend Yeojin left her lunch at home, so Yerim shared her sandwich and also gave Yeojin half of her cookies.”

And so it went for the next half an hour. Jinsol hardly had a bad word to say about either of them, though she did mention that Hyunjin could sometimes be too assertive and Yerim had a tendency to daydream, both of which Jungeun already knew.

“I could hardly ask for two better students,” Jinsol was saying as the conference drew to a close. “They’re both very bright. I think they’ll go far.”

Jungeun swelled with pride. She knew her children were the best, of course, but it was always nice to hear someone else say so. “Thank you. And I just want to tell you again how much they love your class. They told me the other day that you’re the best teacher they’ve ever had.”

Jinsol beamed at her, and Jungeun felt her stomach do a backflip. “That’s very kind of them. It was lovely to talk to you again, Jungeun—and under better circumstances than our last meeting.”

Jungeun laughed. “Same, here.” Checking her watch, she realized with some disappointment that she was due at work in fifteen minutes. “I have to be off now, but thanks so much for your time.”

“It was my pleasure,” said Jinsol, and she walked her to the door.

Jungeun had just placed her hand on the doorknob when a wild impulse overtook her. She swallowed nervously and turned to look at Jinsol. “Jinsol, I was wondering…I was wondering if maybe you’d like to have coffee sometime?”

Her lips parted in surprise. Jungeun’s face felt like it was on fire, and she thought she was going to throw up. What was she thinking? This was a terrible idea. But then Jinsol turned slightly pink and said, “I’d love to.”

“Really?” she blurted out. _Nice going_ _ , loser. Real smooth. _

She blushed harder and nodded. “Would next weekend work for you?”

They made plans and exchanged phone numbers, and Jungeun left a few minutes later with a spring in her step.

* * *

“You will not believe what just happened,” she nearly shouted when she burst into her and Haseul’s office fifteen minutes later. And before Haseul even had the chance to ask, Jungeun was excitedly telling her everything.

“Sounds like you had a much more eventful morning than I did,” Haseul remarked, smiling. “That’s great news, Jungeun. And I suppose you were right about the hidden meaning of all those ‘have a good day’s,” she couldn’t resist adding.

Jungeun was walking on air all day—until about three-thirty, when she suddenly said in horror, “Oh my God. What am I going to tell Yerim and Hyunjin?”

Alarmed at the outburst, Haseul swiveled around to look at her. “The truth?” She suggested.

“But what if it goes badly and I’ve gotten them all worked up for nothing?” Jungeun chewed her lip, thinking. “All right, here’s what I’ll do. I won’t say anything to them for now, but if I get a second date, then I’ll tell them everything. How does that sound?”

"Fair enough, I suppose. Now, you’d better get back to that new case I gave you.”

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

The next week flew by, and Saturday dawned cold and snowy. “How do I look?” Jungeun asked anxiously as she ushered Haseul, she offered to look after Yerim and Hyunjin while Jungeun was on her date, into the house.

“Like you’re going to pass out,” Haseul informed her.

“Auntie Haseul!” The twins came around the corner and threw themselves into Haseul’s arms. She and Yerim were tied for their favorite babysitter.

“Wah! You two have gotten awfully big since the last time I saw you,” she told them.

Yerim giggled. “But it’s only been a few days, Auntie!”

Jungeun turned to her kids. “I’ll be home soon. Be good while I’m gone, and try not to torment Haseul too much.”

“We won’t!” Hyunjin promised, and they immediately marched Haseul to the couch and began arguing over which Disney movie they should watch.

“Bye, Mommy!” Yerim shouted from the couch.

Chuckling, Jungeun headed outside, got in the car, and drove towards the address Jinsol had given her. She lived in a small building a few blocks away from the cafe they were going to. Jungeun called Jinsol to tell her she’d arrived, and the teacher came outside a few minutes later wearing a simple winter coat and boots, snowflakes already starting to stick in her long blonde hair.

“Where are we going?” she asked as they got in Jungeun’s car.

“I thought we could try this nice local cafe I always go to,” she replied, and Jinsol told her that sounded perfect.

Ten minutes later, they walked into the coffee shop. They picked out a table by the window, and Jungeun helped Jinsol out of her coat and draped it over her chair before doing the same with her own. As they were heading up to the counter to order when a voice spoke.

“Ms. Kim? Is that you?”

Jungeun’s head jerked up at the familiar nickname, and there was Kim Yerim, standing behind the counter. Jungeun forgot she worked here. “Um, hey,” she said a little awkwardly.

Yeri’s surprised gaze fell on Jinsol. “Hi, Ms. Jung!”

“Hi, Yeri.”

“You know each other?” Jungeun asked, confused.

“Of course,” said Jinsol with a little laugh. “When someone’s picking a student up after school, they have to check with me first, and Yeri picks up Yerim and Hyunjin every day.”

“Right,” she said, feeling embarrassed that her kids’ babysitter had caught her on a date with their teacher.

Jinsol ordered first, then moved to the side to wait for her coffee. Jungeun placed her order, and as soon as Jinsol was out of earshot, she leaned forward and whispered, “Please don’t say anything to the twins about this, Yeri.”

“They don’t know you’re on a date with their teacher?” she whispered back.

“No!”

Yeri shook her head but promised not to mention it to them. When their drinks were ready, Jungeun and Jinsol returned to their table and easily slipped into conversation.

“So, you’re a lawyer?” she asked after a few minutes spent discussing the weather and the holiday season.

She nodded. “Yeah. Not exactly what I would’ve pictured myself doing, but it pays the bills.”

Jinsol looked at her curiously. “What would you have pictured, then?”

Jungeun gazed out the window for a moment before looking back at her. “I always wanted to sing,” she admitted. “I think I liked the freedom of it—being able to write and record my songs, whenever I wanted. I wanted to sing for the passion of it, but not for the fame or the money. That dream went out the window when the twins came along, obviously. I had to grow up for their sake since their father refused to.”

Jinsol hesitantly covered her hand with her own, and Jungeun smiled shyly. “Do you ever wish things had, I don’t know, turned out differently? So that you could’ve been a singer?”

She considered the question. “No. Because that would mean the twins would never have been born, and I can’t—I don’t even want to imagine a life without them.” After a moment, she asked, “What about you? Did you always want to be a teacher?”

She laughed. “I wanted to be an idol.”

“Girl group idol?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes twinkled merrily. “I used to put on shows for my parents, they were actually very supportive of my dreams. I thought if I was an idol, I could have performed on stage with my members. I even auditioned for entertainment companies. I actually trained for a few years but it was too much. The executives were all money-grabbing asshats, I also didn’t like the weight restrictions but I had great memories with the other trainees. When I left the company, it’s when I decided I wanted to teach kids.”

“Well, I’m thankful that you decided to do so. And I got to meet you.” Jungeun added with a small smile, feeling her respect for the teacher to grow even more. 

They sat there talking for an hour, and another hour after that, until they were the only ones left and realized they were preventing the place from closing for the day.

Jungeun drove her home and walked her up to the front door of her building. “I had a really nice time,” Jinsol said shyly.

“So did I.” Jungeun bit her lip and asked, “Maybe we could do it again sometime?”

She smiled. “I’d like that.”

Hesitatingly, Jungeun reached out to brush a snowflake from her cheek, and she left her hand there as she leaned in to kiss her. Jinsol kissed her back and brought her hands down to rest on Jungeun's waist. They stood there for a minute, snow drifting down around them and dusting their hair and clothing, before breaking apart, flushed and smiling.

“The twins are probably wondering where I am,” said Jungeun reluctantly. “I’ll see you at school on Monday morning.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” she replied, the two of them still smiling like idiots. After another long moment, Jungeun forced herself to turn around, get back in her car, and head home to her children.


	5. Chapter 5

Jungeun waited until she and Jinsol had plans for a second date before sitting the twins down at the kitchen table one night and telling them that they ‘need to talk’.

“Did we do something, Mommy?” asked Hyunjin, while Yerim looked nervous; in their experience, nothing good ever came of ‘the talk’.

“What? No, you didn’t do anything. It’s about something I did.” Jungeun took a deep breath. This was almost as nerve-racking as asking Jinsol out in the first place had been. “Remember a few days before Christmas when I said that I was meeting a friend one day and Auntie Haseul came over to look after you?”

They nodded. “We watched  _ Finding Nemo  _ and  _ Hercules, _ ” Yerim recalled.

“That’s right. Well, I didn’t quite tell you the whole truth. I was actually meeting Ms. Jung, and we went on a date.”

Generally, Yerim and Hyunjin didn’t look all that alike at first glance, but as their jaws dropped and eyes widened in identical expressions of shock, it was very clear that they were twins. “ _ What?”  _ gasped Yerim.

“You went on a  _ date  _ with  _ Ms. Jung?” _ exclaimed Hyunjin. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I know, I should have told you,” Jungeun admitted, “and I’m sorry I didn’t. But I figured, well, your mommy going on a date with your teacher would probably be weird for you, and I didn’t want to make you guys sad if the date ended up not going well and we decided not to see each other again. The thing is that the date  _ did  _ go well, and we’re going on another one this weekend, so I wanted to tell you two about it and see what you two thought. Are you guys alright with that?”

Yerim looked surprised. “Yes, Mommy. I mean Miss Jung makes you happy, right?”

“Ms. Jung is the best,” added Hyunjin, beaming.

Jungeun smiled back at them, relieved. She was sure if they’d been even a year or two older, the situation would definitely have bothered them, but as far as the five-year-olds were concerned, they loved Jungeun and they loved Jinsol, so they didn’t see why they shouldn’t love the idea of them loving each other. Indeed, Yerim asked next, “Are you going to get married?”

“That would be  _ so  _ cool!” said Hyunjin, looking thrilled at the thought.

“Uh, it’s a little soon to think about that,” Jungeun said hastily. “We’ve only been on one date. But I’m really glad you guys are happy about all this.”

* * *

The second date turned into a third and then a fourth, and that evening it was Jungeun who was on the receiving end of a ‘we need to talk’. “Is everything all right?” she asked Jinsol, feeling nervous. Was she going to say this was all a horrible idea, and that she didn’t actually like her at all, and that she never wanted to see her again?

“I was just thinking,” she started. “I was kind of concerned about going on a date with you when you first asked, since you’re the parent of two of my students, and I was worried it might be inappropriate.”

“Oh.” Jungeun’s heart sank. She was going to end it. She should’ve known it was too good to be true. Haseul was right, she  _ should  _ try to think realistically more often because if she thought about this a little more she would have realized how tricky the situation was and she never would have asked the teacher out at all.

“But the thing is, I really like you, Jungeun,” Jinsol continued, blushing slightly. “And I thought, ‘Who cares if other people think it’s inappropriate?’ None of this affects how I do my job, or how I treat Yerim and Hyunjin in the classroom or any of the other students for that matter, so really, I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

Was she saying what she thought she was saying? “Won’t you get in trouble?” she asked.

She shook her head. “The school doesn’t have any kind of policy about this. Sure, the other teachers and parents and the administration might all grumble a little, but they don’t have the grounds to actually do anything about it. I checked.”

Jungeun grinned. “You did?”

Jinsol turned a deep crimson. “The day after I met you,” she admitted, and Jungeun laughed in delight. Once her own chuckles had died down, Jinsol took a deep breath and said, “Basically, what I’m saying is…I want to have a real, actual relationship with you.”

Feeling like her heart could burst, Jungeun reached out and took her hands in her own. “Me too,” she said, and she leaned in to kiss her girlfriend.


	6. Chapter 6

Yerim and Hyunjin didn’t have much of a reaction to the news; they were too young to know the difference between going on dates and dating. They could see how happy their mom was and that made them happy, too.

Some eyebrows were raised the first time Jungeun kissed a blushing Jinsol on the cheek in front of numerous other parents and teachers after dropping the twins off at school, and while they became a hot topic of gossip for a short while, the whole thing blew over soon enough when it became clear that their relationship was not interfering with her ability to do her job.

Meanwhile, Haseul was delighted. She insisted it was because Jungeun was her friend and Haseul wanted the best for her, though Jungeun suspected she was equally glad to no longer have to put up with her lovesick whining and pining. It came at the price of increased babysitting duties since Jungeun and Jinsol began spending more and more time together on the weekends, but Haseul didn’t mind. She loves the twins.

She did mind, however, one night a few weeks later when, long after having put Yerim and Hyunjin to bed, she was dozing on the couch only to be rudely awoken by the front door slamming loudly. Jungeun and Jinsol had just arrived back from their night out, and Jinsol was currently pressed up against the door as Jungeun kissed her passionately. Jungeun pulled away as she heard someone clearing their throat, and she and Jinsol, both startled and a little embarrassed, turned to see Haseul standing with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised.

“I’m assuming you two had a nice evening?” She asked, clearly suppressing a smirk.

“Very nice night, thank you,” Jungeun coughed, as Jinsol straightened her hair with as much dignity as she could muster. “How were the twins?”

“Perfect as always,” replied Haseul. “Hyunjin and I drew animals, she barked when she started drawing a cat for some reason. Meanwhile, Yerim and I had a tea party. It was a big hit with the stuffed animals, or so I was told.”

Jungeun smiled at the image before turning to Jinsol. “Why don’t you head upstairs? I’ll be up in a minute,” she murmured in her ear. “It’s the door without any princess stickers on it.”

Jinsol laughed before mounting the stairs, leaving Jungeun alone with Haseul. Jungeun beckoned her closer and whispered, “Hypothetically, would it be morally wrong to—?”

“I don't want to know the end of that sentence,” Haseul cut her off. "Besides, if I said it would be morally wrong to do whatever wrong thing you're about to do, would it stop you from doing it?"

“Probably not.”

Haseul rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you on Monday.” By the time Haseul left and shut the front door behind her, Jungeun was already halfway up the stairs.

That night, she was especially glad that the twins had always been very sound sleepers.

* * *

"Mommy, wake up! Can we have pancakes? You said you’d make them last weekend but you didn’t, so you promised you would this weekend instead. Pleeeeeease?”

Jinsol’s eyes fluttered open. She yawned, rolled over, and sat up to find two five-year-olds staring at her. “Ms. Jung? I mean, Jinsol?” asked Hyunjin in surprise. Jinsol had told the twins to call her by her first name outside of school, though they still sometimes forgot. “What are you doing here?”

Luckily, Jungeun, who had also been woken, came to her rescue. “Our date ended late last night and Jinsol was too tired to drive home, so she slept here,” she explained smoothly. Jinsol hid a smile; her words technically were true.

“Oh,” said Hyunjin, nodding, as if this made perfect sense. “Well, hurry up, Mommy, we’re hungry!” And they were gone as quickly as they’d come.

Jungeun groaned and flopped back down. Jinsol laughed. “You’d better go before they burn the house down trying to make pancakes themselves.”

“That almost happened once, actually,” said Jungeun, grinning. “Stay for breakfast?”

“I’d love to.” Jungeun sat up once more, gave Jinsol a lingering kiss, and obligingly went downstairs. Jinsol rummaged around in her drawers and threw on one of Jungeun’s oversized hoodies then followed behind.

She stopped in the doorway for a moment to take in the scene in front of her. Jungeun was shuffling around the kitchen, getting out a frying pan and fiddling with the oven as Yerim and Hyunjin excitedly stirred the pancake batter, both with streaks of flour on their faces. Jinsol smiled broadly, thinking that her heart had never felt so full, and she walked over to join them.


End file.
